Macedon rose to power under Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.
When the former ascended the throne, Macedon was under threat from several sides, from the Illyrians, Paeonians and Thracians.
Philip reorganized the army, extensively trained his soldiers, re-equipped them and boosted their morale by building a warrior culture.
He also engaged in diplomacy, skilfully maneuvering between the powers surrounding Macedon.
When he was strong enough, he started to battle his enemies and defeat them one by one.
He subdued the Illyrians, conquered Thrace, Thessaly and reduced the rest of Greece to a group of vassals.
The flower of the army was the heavy cavalry, the 'Companions'.
There were recruited from the upper layers of Macedonian society, shared a warrior ethos and considered themselves an elite.
The Companions were divided into squadrons of 200 men, who often operated in difficult dense wedge formations and were very maneuverable.
Armed with spears, they could charge through weak troops and then wreak havoc in the rear of the enemy lines.
It is a misconception that they were able to smash through a disciplined hoplite formation.
Nonetheless the Companions were often decisive in a battle, breaking the enemy just when the battle became critical.
The heavy cavalry was supplemented by medium and light cavalry, wielding spears, swords and javelins.
They often had to shield the flanks against encirclement.
The backbone of the army was the phalanx.
Each man in it was armed with an unprecedented 5.5 meters long pike, the sarissa, much longer than the traditional hoplite spear.
This weapon had to be wielded with two hands, so Philip strengthened the defense by equipping the soldiers with heavy armor
and by strapping their shields onto their shoulders.
The smallest tactical unit was the "syntagma", 16 man wide and 16 rows deep, so totaling 256 men.
It was a slow but powerful formation that was often used to pin the center of the enemy down, while more mobile units inflicted damage.
Next to the phalanx there were the "hyspaspists", who wielded shorter spears and swords.
They were far more maneuverable than the phalanx and very important in seizing tactical opportunities.
The heavy and medium troops were supplemented by light missile troops such as Thracian peltasts and Cretan archers.
The Macedonian army also used siege engines, towers and other equipment, often constructed on the spot.
It also was one of the first armies to use field artillery.
On the march, the Macedonian army disdained carts and wagons.
Supplies were carried by pack animals and the soldiers themselves, who were trained to be accustomed to long marches with heavy loads.
As a result, the army moved much faster than its opponents and sometimes won battles just by arriving on the scene before the enemy was prepared.
Despite their limited carrying ability the army never went hungry, because supply points were always set up in time
and the logistical staff always kept a keen eye on the local availability of food.
Before Philip, the Macedonian army had been a weak proto-feudal force, led by highland barons.
Philip made them see themselves not primarily as family members, but Macedonians.
He instilled a fighting spirit in his men, where each strove to outdo others in deeds of skill and bravery, both in war and peacetime.
Philip used the army to conquer the southern Balkans and Greece; his son Alexander conquered the Persian empire with it.
The latters successors again increased the importance of the phalanx, increasing the fighting power of the army but compromising its flexibility somewhat.
War Matrix - Macedonian army
Greek Era 330 BCE - 200 BCE, Armies and troops